BREAKING: Key Democrat’s Campaign Broadsided By Bombshell Allegations

A woman has accused Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner of sexually assaulting her during an encounter nearly five years ago, allegations the candidate flatly denies.

Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident who previously dated Platner, told POLITICO in a series of interviews that he forced her to have sex despite her repeated objections during an incident she says happened in late 2021.

The outlet reported that it reviewed emails between Racicot and her therapist, messages she exchanged with an acquaintance warning about Platner years before he entered politics, and spoke with a former boyfriend whom she later confided in.

According to Racicot, she and Platner had an on-and-off relationship for more than two years after meeting on the dating app Bumble in 2019. She said the relationship ended after he allegedly entered her rural Maine home uninvited one night while heavily intoxicated and forced himself on her despite her repeatedly telling him to stop.

“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” she said. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”

Platner denied the accusation.

“These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue,” he said in a statement.

Racicot previously spoke to *The New York Times* about what she described as Platner’s “reckless” and “unsettling” behavior, but said she did not disclose the alleged sexual assault at the time because she did not want to be publicly identified as a rape victim.

She told POLITICO she decided to come forward after attention surrounding the Times story centered on another woman, Lyndsey Fifield, who accused Platner of mistreating her and later faced criticism over her Republican ties. POLITICO reported that Fifield stood by her earlier allegations but declined further comment.

“My part of the story was just a read-over,” Racicot said in an interview. “And the story was Lyndsey, and the accusations of her being politically motivated.”

Graham Platner

Racicot also said she struggled with whether to speak publicly because she agreed with Platner’s politics.

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“One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” she said. “I just want the truth out there. I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.”

Platner‘s campaign issued a separate statement repeating his denial while accusing political opponents of orchestrating the accusations ahead of the election.

“These allegations are very serious, and Graham vigorously denies them. They are also coached and coordinated by out of state establishment operatives. For a year, opponents of this campaign have thrown everything they can at Graham –– calling him a Nazi, a war criminal, and a communist. None of it has been true and this is no different. It is not a coincidence that this story comes a week before the ballot deadline, just as the previous false allegations came a week before the primary. Graham began this campaign to fight for a Maine where everyone is treated with dignity and where Mainers are put first, and no amount of desperate smears will stop this movement from seeing that vision through.”

Platner, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran and oysterman, launched his Senate campaign last August and easily won last month’s Democratic primary. He is set to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races.

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His campaign has already been dogged by controversies, including offensive online posts and previous allegations that he mistreated women. However, he had not previously been publicly accused of sexual assault.

Platner has previously linked some of his past behavior to mental health struggles and alcohol abuse, while denying earlier claims that he was abusive toward women.

Racicot told POLITICO that on the night of the alleged assault, she had texted Platner and told him not to come over because she did not want company. Later that evening, she said she heard someone on the stairs and realized Platner had entered her unlocked home without permission.

She said he climbed on top of her while she sat on the couch, repeatedly grabbing her despite her objections. Racicot told POLITICO she could smell alcohol on his breath and believed he was “almost blackout drunk,” saying he ignored her protests even after knocking over an antique sewing kit and scattering needles across the floor.

“I had been telling him these words, like: ‘No, don’t,’” she recalled.

“And, the look on his face and realizing what was happening, I just realized that, like, I am in a situation where there’s no consent here,” she said.

Racicot said she tried to remove herself from the situation by leaving the room, but alleged Platner followed her into the bedroom and had sex with her against her will. She also alleged that he ejaculated inside her after she told him not to because she was not using birth control.

She said she cleaned herself up afterward and found Platner asleep when she returned. Although she considered waking him and ordering him to leave, she said she worried he might injure someone if he drove while intoxicated.

The next morning, Racicot said Platner tried to put his arm around her, but she pushed him away. She said she asked whether he remembered what had happened the night before and claimed he said he did not. She then told him to leave and never contact her again.

Several weeks later, after confirming she was not pregnant, Racicot said she sent Platner a private Instagram message telling him the encounter had not been consensual and that she never wanted to hear from him again.

She told POLITICO she never had contact with Platner after that. Racicot also said she later deleted her text messages and social media conversations with him while trying to move on, and has been unable to recover the Instagram messages.

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